Facebook, Being Cool, and Your Brain: What Science Tells Us

Abstract

What happens in your brain when you find out that someone thinks you’re cool? Neuroscientists have recently started to investigate this by looking into how our brains process information concerning our reputation. Just a few years ago, it was discovered that when we learn that other people think highly of us, a key part of the brain’s reward system is activated [1]. The reward system is a set of interconnected brain structures that gives us a pleasurable feeling when we obtain or do things with a positive value. Getting a compliment feels good, so it makes sense that the reward system might be involved.